Rate Article:

A picture of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi is seen hanging admist debris at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo on August 15, 2013, following a crackdown on the protest camps of supporters of the ousted Islamist leader the previous day. (AFP)

“Yesterday (Wednesday) we called in the Egyptian ambassador to express our deep concern at the escalating violence and unrest in Egypt,” a spokesman said, according to AFP.

“Simon Gass, the Foreign Office political director, condemned the use of force to clear the protests and urged the Egyptian authorities to act with the greatest restraint.”

French President Francois Hollande summoned the Egyptian ambassador to convey France’s “great concern over the tragic events,” AFP reported his office as saying in a statement, adding that the leader urged Egypt's rulers to swiftly end a month-long state of emergency imposed in the wake of the crackdown.

He said “everything must be done to avoid a civil war” in Egypt.

“France is committed to finding a political solution and calls for elections to be held as soon as possible, in line with the commitments made by Egypt's transitional authorities.”

Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign ministry spokeswoman told AFP that “on the orders of Foreign Minister (Guido) Westerwelle, the [Egyptian] ambassador was told the position of the German government in no uncertain terms.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called for an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting reading the crisis.

“The Security Council of the United Nations should convene quickly to discuss the situation in Egypt,” AFP quoted Erdogan as saying to reporters in Ankara. He went on to describe the killings as a “very serious massacre.”

Denmark on Thursday announced that it has suspended development aid to Egypt, in response to the “bloody events.

“Denmark has two projects in direct collaboration with the Egyptian government and public institutions, and they are now going to be suspended,” Christian Friis Bach, the development aid minister, said in an interview with the Berlingske newspaper.

He added: “It is in response to the bloody events and the very regrettable turn the development of democracy has taken.”

According to AFP, Denmark’s aid amounts to around 30 million kroner ($5.3 million).

Friis Bach also urged the European Union to re-examine its aid policy to Cairo, and told the newspaper that Denmark plans to suspend its contribution to EU funding to the country.